Sport shoe



Nov. 17, 1964 A. DAssLER 3,156,987

sPoR'r sHoE Filed March 4,. 1963 INVENTORI po/.F DnssLEQ Trae/ve y.

United States Patent O 3,156337 SPDRT SHGE Adolf Dassler, Ain Bahnhof,Herzogenaurach, near Nrnberg, Germany Filed Mar. 1l, i963, Ser. No.262,6]16 Claims priority, application Germany, Get. 24, 1962,

l) degli@ 4 Claims, (Cl. .l-2,5)

The present invention relates to sport shoes which are provided withsuitable means `for removably securing spikes, cleats, or the like tothe soles thereof in a manner so as to permit them to be exchanged.

The known sport shoes of his kind are usually provided with socket-likesupporting elements which are emedded in the outerv soles and permit thespikes or cleats to be removably secured thereto, for example, bythreaded connections. These supporting elements generally `form threadedinserts, each of which consists or a threaded tubular sleeve or socketinto which a spike or cleat may be screwed and which is provided with alateral projection, usually in the form of a disk, by means of which theinsert is anchored within the outer sole.

Sport shoes of the above-mentioned type in which the supporting elementsfor the spikes or cleats are embedded in the outer soles have the greatadvantage that the socalled spike pressure is considerably reduced oreven avoided entirely. This spike pressure is the annoying or evenpainful pressure which is exerted upon the bottom of the foot of thewearer of the sport shoe when under the forces which act upon theindividual spikes or cleats the anchoring parts or disks of thesupporting elements are pressed upwardly and form bulges on the upperside of t'ne insoles. This spike pressure occurs primarily in such shoesin which the anchoring parts are secured at the upper side of theinsole, for example, by being riveted thereon. If, on the other hand,the anchoring parts are embedded in the outer sole ofthe shoe, thepressure which is exerted upon the spikes or cleats and is transmittedto their supporting elements is taken up by the outer sole anddistributed over the surface thereof and is therefore no longerconcentrated upon certain points of the sole.

Since in the known sport shoes, in which the threaded supporting insertsfor the spikes or cleats are embedded in the outer sole, the anchoringdisk of such an insert is provided on the end of the threaded sleeve orsocket facing the foot, the length of this socket must be less than thethickness of the outer sole. Since the spikes or cleats have towithstand considerable forces, they have to be very securely connectedto the bottom of the shoe. T his requires the threaded part of eachspike or cleat and also the threaded socket of each supporting insert inthe outer sole to be made at least of a certain minimum length. In theknown shoe structures, this meant that the outer sole had to be of asuflicient thickness to permit the supporting elements to be completelyembedded therein, that is, of such a thickness that the weight of thesport shoe was thereby considerably increased. This is, however,contrary to the modern demand on sport shoes that such shoes are aslight as possible since the physical output of a sportsman andespecially of a runner necessarily decreases with an increase in theweight of his shoes.

lt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide alightweight sport shoe the bottom of which may be equipped with spikes,cleats, or the like which are removably secured thereto by being screwedinto supporting elements which are embedded in the outer sole of theshoe in a manner so that even though the outer sole may be maderelatively thin and very strong forces may be exerted upon the spikes orcleats these supporting elements will remain lirmly anchored to the soleand the occurrence of a spike pressure upon the bottom of the foot willalso be prevented.

For attaining this object, the invention provides in the i'irst instancethat the part of each supporting element which is directly associatedwith a stop flange on the spike or cleat and preferably consists of athreaded sleeve or socket extends from the upper side to the lower sideof the outer sole and at both sides of the anchoring projection on thiselement which preferably consists of an annular tlange. The threadedsleeve therefore extends through theentire thickness of the outer sole,while the anchoring flange is embedded within the sole.

For shoes which are intended for sports in which the spikes or the likeare expected to be subjected to very high stresses, for example, forlong-distance jumps or for ruiming on a hard cinder track, and in whichthe supporting elements for such spikes or the like should therefore beas long as possible, the invention further provides each individualspike supporting element to be made of a length greater than thethickness of the outer sole. In order to embed each supporting elementcompletely in the material of the outer sole, and thus also the end ofthis element which exceeds the thickness of the outer sole and projectsfrom the normal bottom surface of the sole, the invention provides thespecific parts of the outer sole at and around the points where theindividual supporting elements are located and would normally projectfrom the bottom of the sole to be made of a greater thickness than theremainder of die sole by means of bulges at these parts of the bottom ofthe sole, so that the total thickness of the sole at these pantscorresponds to the length of the supporting elements. Since the sides ofthese reinforcing bulges are tapered toward the normal bottom level ofthe outer sole, the spike pressure will also be more effectivelydistributed than if the spikes were applied directly upon the normalbottom of the sole. The special pressure distributing disks, forexample, of aluminum, which were often provided between the spikes andthe outer soles of previous sport shoes are therefore no longernecessary in the new shoe structure. Such pressure distributing diskshave not only the disadvantage that they are easily lost or forgottenwhen the spikes are removed or exchanged, but also that they promo-tethe adhesion of dirt on the bottom of the soles, especially when theground is moist, which, in turn, results in a very undesirable increasein the weight of the shoes.

In order to distribute the spike pressure to a still greater extent,especially on a racing shoe with exchangeable spikes, another feature ofthe invention provides each spike with a disklike enlargement in theform of a flange on the shank of the spike directly adjacent to thethreaded stud which is screwed into a supporting element in the outersole. Its enlarged flat or slightly concave side facing the sole thereofincreases the bearing surface of the spike on a reinforcing bulge of thesole. The other side of this round flange is preferably smoothly beveledand Ymerges by a -lillet with the shank of the spike. The flange isfurther preferably provided with radial recesses into which a suitabletool may engage when the spike is to be screwed into a securing elementin the sole and tightened against the sole or to be removed from thesole. The llange therefore also serves as a screwhead. As against theusual polygonal screwheads of the conventional exchangeable spike, thisround screwhead with radial recesses therein has several distinctadvantages. Since it is round and smoothly beveled in the directiontoward the shank of the spike, it is much less aiected by wear, forexample, of a cinder track, than a polygonal screwhead. Even when wornconsiderably, the radial recesses in this flange will still permit asuitable wrench or similar tool to engage iirmly into them, whereas thei edges of a polygonal head may then be ground off to such an extent byits engagement with a cinder track that no wrench will hold thereon.l Afurther very important advantage of the spike according to the inventionis the fact that, due to thev smoothly beveled shape of this tlange orscrewhead, the latter can penetrate much more easily and with lessresistance into the ground, and especially into ahard cinder track, thana polygonal screwead.

These and further features of the invention will become more clearlyapparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to beread with reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which-FIGURE l shows an enlarged axial section of a supporting elementaccording to the invention for securing a spike to the sole of a sportshoe;

FIGURE 2 shows two similar vertical sections of a racing shoe accordingto the invention, in which the sectional view at the left side shows theshoe and the spikes before being connected to each other, while the Viewat the right side shows the spikes secured to the shoe;

FIGURE 3 shows a perspective view of the front part of the racing shoeaccording to FIGURE 2, as seen upon the bottom of the outer solethereof;

FIGURE 4 shows a perspective View of a spike according to the invention;

FIGURE Vshows an axial section of the spike taken along line V-V ofFIGURE 6; while FIGURE 6 shows a plan view of the spike as seen in thedirection of the arrow A in FIGURE 5.

As illustrated in the drawings, the supporting element or insert 1 whichmay be made, for example, of metal consists of a threaded tubular part 2and an annular disklike anchoring flange 3 which may he secured to orintegral with this tubular part.` The threaded tubular part 2 extends atboth sides of ange 3 and as shown in FIGURE 2, it has a length inaccordanceV with the maximum thickness of the outer sole 4 in which theentire supporting insert 1 including the tubular part 2 and lange 3 iscompletely embedded. In order to reduce the general thickness of theouter sole 4. and thus the weight of the shoe as much as possible andalso to permit the threaded tubular part 2 of the` insert 1 to be madeas long as possible so that the threaded stud of a spike or cleat willbe securely held therein, the area 5 of the outer sole where thethreaded inserts 1 are embedded are made of a greater thickness than theremainder of the sole and form projecting bulges on the bottom thereof.

The threaded inserts 1 may be placed into the outer sole 4 and theprojecting bulges 5 thereof during the casting of the outer sole orduring the operation of vulcanizing or molding such a sole tof rubber orplastic upon the upper 6 and the insole 7 of the shoe. While thematerial of the outer sole i is then still in a liquid condition, itpenetrates' through the perforations 3 in the flanges 3 of inserts 1, asindicated in FIGURE 2, whereby the inserts are securely locked againstrotation in the outer sole 4.

FIGURES 4 to 6 show a spike 9 which has a threaded stud l@ on its shank11 and an annular ange 12 on the end of this shank adjacent to stud 1t?.This flange 12 has a dat or slightly concavey suracefacing the threadedstud and a pair of diametrically opposite recesses 13 which extendentirely through the ange and permit a suitable tool to engage into themfor screwing the stud into the threaded bore in the insert 1 andtightening the spike on a bulge 5 of the outer sole 4 or for looseningit therefrom' when the spike is to be removed or exchanged. The

other side of ange .12 is smoothly beveled toward the shank 11 andmerges by a fillet 14 with the shank.

Although in the above description I have spoken primarily of a racingshoe which is equipped with exchangeable spikes, it is obvious that theinvention is also applicable to other kinds of sport shoes, that theshank portion of the spikes may also be of a different shape than thatas illustrated in the drawings, and that cleats or similar elements maybe secured to the outer sole of the sport shoe in place of such spikesand in the same manner as described with reference to these spikes. Forthe sake of convenience, however, the term spike alone is usedthroughout the claims, this term being intended to comprehend any ttingwhich may be attached to' the underside of a sport, track, or otherathletic shoe, such as actual spikes, cleats, studs, and the like.

Having thus described my invention in detail, what I ciairn is:

l. A sport shoe equipped with detachable spikes, saidsport shoe havingan outer sole provided with a plurality ofl integral bulges projectingbeyond the lower surface of said outer sole, there being embedded ineach of said bulges a respective supporting element which extendssubstantially from the upper surface of said outer sole down to thebottom of the bulge within which it is embedded, each supporting elementhaving a lateral projection for anchoring the respective supportingelement to said sole, each supporting element further having means fordetachably receiving a respective spike, each of said spikes having aconnecting portion which is received by the receiving means of arespective supporting element, each spike further having a flangeportion which, when the connecting portion of the spike is received bythe receiving means of a supporting element, bears against the bulgewithin which the respective supporting element is embedded, each suchbulge having, at'its lowermost surface region, an expanse whose area issubstantially greater than that of the flange portion of the respectivespike, in consequence of which there is obtained a distribution of theforce between the spike and the sole.

2. A sport shoe as defined in claim 1 wherein said lowermost surfaceregion of said bulges and the upper face of the ange portions which bearagainst the respective bulges are substantially at.

3. A sport shoe as defined in claim l wherein each of said supportingelements further comprises a sleeve portion whose interior serves as thereceiving means, said sleeve portion extending axially on both sides ofsaid lateral projection.

4. A sport shoe as defined in claim l wherein each of said supportingelements, including its lateral projection, is cast into the respectivebulge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN,Prinmry Examiner.

1. A SPORT SHOE EQUIPPED WITH DETACHABLE SPIKES, SAID SPORT SHOE HAVINGAN OUTER SOLE PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF INTEGRAL BULGES PROJECTINGBEYOND THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID OUTER SOLE, THERE BEING EMBEDDED INEACH OF SAID BULGES A RESPECTIVE SUPPORTING ELEMENT WHICH EXTENDSSUBSTANTIALLY FROM THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID OUTER SOLE DOWN TO THEBOTTOM OF THE BULGE WITHIN WHICH IT IS EMBEDDED,EACH SUPPORTING ELEMENTHAVING A LATERAL PROJECTION FOR ANCHORING THE RESPECTIVE SUPPORTINGELEMENT TO SAID SOLE, EACH SUPPORTING ELEMENT FURTHER HAVING MEANS FORDETACHABLY RECEIVING A RESPECTIVE SPIKE, EACH OF SAID SPIKES HAVING ACONNECTING PORTION WHICH IS RECEIVED BY THE RECEIVING MEANS OF ARESPECTIVE SUPPORTING ELEMENT, EACH SPIKE FURTHER HAVING A FLANGEPORTION WHICH, WHEN THE CONNECTING PORTION OF THE SPIKE IS RECEIVED BYTHE RECEIVING MEANS OF A SUPPORTING ELEMENT, BEARS AGAINST THE BULGEWITHIN WHICH THE RESPECTIVE SUPPORTING ELEMENT IS EMBEDDED, EACH SUCHBULGE HAVING, AT ITS LOWERMOST SURFACE REGION, AN EXPANSE WHOSE AREA ISSUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THAT OF THE FLANGE PORTION OF THE RESPECTIVESPIKE, IN CONSEQUENCE OF WHICH THERE IS OBTAINED A DISTRIBUTION OF THEFORCE BETWEEN THE SPIKE AND THE SOLE.